SIU clear officer in Tamworth death

TAMWORTH, Ont. - The province's police watchdog says there are no reasonable grounds to charge a Napanee OPP officer in relation with the February death of a 59-year-old man.

The Special Investigations Unit says police were searching for the man, who was reported to have killed another man and shot a firefighter in the town of Tamworth before fleeing in a pick up truck.

The SIU says the officer at the centre of their investigation eventually found the pickup in the centre of a road, at which point he approached it while armed with a rifle.

It says the officer found the vehicle was empty and was halfway between his cruiser and the pickup when he heard a single gun shot that sounded like it came from east of the truck.

The SIU says the officer took cover behind the door of his cruiser and other officers arrived. Police eventually found the man's body in bushes east of the pickup later that evening.

The SIU's director says the man was found lying on top of two rifles with a wound that a pathologist found could have been self-inflicted.

He also says several witnesses saw the man going into the bushes alone holding a gun case and a rifle before hearing a single gunshot.

“It is clear on this evidence that neither the subject officer nor any of the OPP officers involved in the search for the man had anything to with his death," said SIU Director Tony Loparco. "On the contrary, the available evidence indicates that the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.